Tagline: Weird, wild,
and crazy theatrical trailers from around the
world. Country: USA

Red light districts are nothing new. The Times
Square area of New York has always had a heavy rep
for debauchery and grime, but from the sixties through
to the early nineties, it was a true paradise for
fans of scum cinema. Anyone familiar with the pages
of Sleazoid Express, Bill Landis'
and Michelle Clifford's first hand account of life
on the Deuce, will already be aware of 42nd Street's
rotten landscape of decaying grindhouses, outrageous
sex shops, 24 hour gun stores, tourist junk emporiums
and sleazy arcades.

The cinemas along this short stretch of grubby
sidewalk were just a few minutes from Broadway,
but they specialised in films that the mainstream
movie houses turned their noses up at - gay and
straight hardcore pornography, uncut mondo movies,
European gore flicks, sado-roughies... New York's
finest examples of freak lifestyle found their
spiritual home on the Deuce and made it their
own.

Certain areas of the grindhouses were no-go areas
for the casual moviegoer. It wasn't advisable
to visit the toilets or linger too long in the
darkened corridors and doorways lest you attracted
the attention of muggers, drunks or slumming gay
porn stars offering to sell you a piece of stardom.
But it was the experience of watching films with
an audience mostly made up of hustlers, whores,
pimps, junkies, weirdos, hobos, perverts and Lord
knows what else that gave the Times Square movie
viewing experience such a kick. If the films didn't
deliver, the crowd would yell, throw food, tear
up the seats and generally wreak havoc until they
got what they wanted. Needless to say, the cinema
owners went to great lengths to book titles that
would keep their audiences happy, and the outrageous
ways in which these films were marketed was an
art form in itself.

This unique slice of American subculture came
to an end in the early 1990s as the twin epidemics
of crack and AIDS reached critical mass, and City
Hall set out to clean up Times Square. After the
Deuce was sold off to developers and the bulldozers
moved in, Sleazoid Express found
itself becoming a reluctant testimonial to the
guilty pleasures once available on 42nd Street.
Thankfully, it has now been joined by this great
two-hour long collection of trailers for some
of the craziest flicks ever to play to paying
audiences.

The first in a planned series from Synapse, even
the sleeve artwork of 42nd Street Forever remains
faithful to the grubby realities of a Times Square
grindhouse - look past the ticket booth, past
the lurid posters and faded art-deco glamour and
you'll notice dubious stains on the foyer walls.
It's good to know that Synapse have gone the extra
mile in the realism stakes!

The trailers cover a broad mix of genres in an
effort to capture a flavour of the entertainment
that was once available on the Deuce, so biker
movies, chop sockey cheapies and obscure giallos
rub shoulders with the likes of po-faced porno
flicks, bizarre Japanese sci-fi and second-rate
blaxploitation movies.

The ones that stand out for reasons both good
and bad include Shocking Asia's
squirm-inducing sex change footage, the jaw-dropping
tastelessness of thalidomide kung fu epic The
Crippled Master, the laughable sex-on-a-rollercoaster
pseudo-art of Panorama Blue,
the extreme 60s dummy gore of The Undertaker
and his Pals, the oddly endearing Thunderbirds-sfx
and memorable wah-wah theme tune of The
Green Slime, the foggy-end-of-pier slashings
of The Flesh and Blood Show,
the unique gay biker antics of The Pink
Angels ("I never really knew my
father. He was always in drag.") and Ginger,
an amazingly sadistic private investigator who
ties one suspect up, strips naked and threatens
to castrate him with piano wire if he pops a boner,
the poor bastard.

But the absolute highlight has to be a long trailer
for a double bill of I Dismember Mama and The Blood Splattered Bride.
Filmed on location at the Bijou theatre, it takes
the form of a fake TV news item and features a
reporter interviewing patrons as they leave a
screening from which the police have just dragged
out a man driven insane by what he has seen on
screen. The Times Square freakshow really springs
into life here - as one interviewee says, "I
noticed this guy droolin' and talkin'
to himself all the way through it. Well naturally,
I didn't think nothin' about that."

I could have happily done without the Secret
Africa trailer, a mondo movie featuring
an extremely distressing shot of a small child
undergoing an enforced scarification ceremony
- even the most jaded viewers will find this bit
particularly unpleasant. But willing audiences
paid to watch these flicks, and the scope of depravity
on offer here demonstrates the anything-goes atmosphere
of 42nd Street in its grimy prime.

For anyone even remotely interested in the cinematic
underbelly, this is more fun than frenching your
granny.

Useless trivia: The very last film to play on
the Deuce was Falling Down at
the Rialto in 1992. In a sentimental touch, Sleazoid
Express remembers that the Rialto audience was
captivated by D-FENS, the deranged character played
by Michael Douglas, because they could relate
to him as one of their own!

Video

Scratches and print damage are common throughout
the running time, but they don't distract from your
enjoyment and can be forgiven as many of the trailers
date back to the 1960s and early 1970s (the best
looking of the bunch is probably Werewolves
on Wheels, which appears crisp and colourful).
They even add to the grindhouse atmosphere. Whaddya
want from a bunch of sleazeball dirty pictures,
anyway?

Audio

Presented in Dolby Digital mono only, but this
didn't spoil the viewing fun - the furniture is
hardly going to reverberate around the living room
when you're watching a vintage 60s trailer for the
likes of Matango: Fungus of Terror!

Extra Features

None whatsoever, and it's a missed opportunity.
With so many hustlers, crooks, showmen and shady
characters involved in the running of the Deuce
grindhouses, an overview of the 42nd Street movie-going
experience from the likes of Bill Landis or Michelle
Clifford would have been a welcome addition.

The Verdict

Groovy. A great night's entertainment and
perfect for parties... although unless you want
your guests to leave in a hurry, you might want
to fast-forward the Secret Africa and Shocking Asia trailers. Roll
on volume two!

Originally born unto this world as Terror Australis.net back in March 2002, Digital Retribution is a proudly Australian website devoted to all things horror, cult, and exploitation that strives to promote Australian films and filmmakers while sharing its questionable taste in ultra-violent smut-laden local and international offerings with the rest of the world.